Foreigners entering the Russian Federation for a period of more than 90 days will be obliged to submit their biometric data upon entry into Russia, that will be part of efforts of the Russian state to strengthen national security.
So far, a draft bill has already been submitted for consideration of the Russian Parliament (State Duma) being designed by members of the local political party “A Just Russia – For Truth.”
An official spokesman of the Party comments: “The existing features of writing the surname-name-patronymic of citizens of certain countries in Cyrillic and Latin allow for several options for writing passport data, which makes it impossible to clearly identify a person who has entered the territory of the Russian Federation, which, in turn, makes it possible for persons who have committed an offense in Russia and were previously deported to re-enter Russia».
The authors of the bill are citing on the data from the Investigative Committee of the Russian Federation, according to which the number of crimes committed by foreign citizens within the territory of Russia is growing every year.
In addition, according to the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs, in 2022, up to 25 percent of people who came to Russia for work were unable to obtain a work permit. Almost the same situation was observed in 2023 and this year.
According to a spokesman of the Russian Minister of Internal Affairs Vladimir Kolokoltsev, most of these foreigners stay in Russia on illegal basis.
At the initial stage foreigners will be obliged to undergo a fingerprinting procedure. In this case, it will be necessary to register for them not at the migration service at the place of stay, but upon entry into the territory of Russia.
Implementation of these plans will be carried by the Center of Biometric Technologies (an official operator of the Russian Unified Biometrics System) and at the initial stage will be carried out in Moscow.
In addition, in accordance with the proposal of the Russian Ministry of Digital Development – a state agency, responsible for development of biometrics sector in Russia – foreigners will be also obliged to provide biometric data when purchasing a SIM card in the Russian Federation.
According to Russian state-affiliated Rossyiskay Gazeta business paper, so far, the draft amendments to the existing Russian federal Law on Communications have also been submitted for consideration of State Duma and should be approved already within the next couple of weeks.
In accordance with the amendments, by February 1, 2025, local mobile operators will have to notify foreigners about the change in the rules for providing communication services, and by March 1, they must reissue documents and submit biometrics. If subscribers do not do this, their communications will be disconnected.
As representatives of the Ministry of Digital Development told in an exclusive interview biometric registration in the draft law is understood as “placing a face image in the Unified Biometric System in accordance with requirements of the law.”
They also explained the new requirement is aimed at solving the “uncontrolled distribution of subscriber numbers, including among foreigners, which contributes to the emergence of opportunities for illegal actions using communication networks.”
